Preparing for the new school curriculum
Wednesday 14 January 2009
Teachers across Scotland are to receive one additional day's training a year over the next three years to help introduce the new school curriculum.
In addition to the extra year for preparation for Curriculum for Excellence, councils will be allowed to provide an extra day in service specifically devoted to Curriculum for Excellence. Cabinet Secretary for Education and Lifelong Learning Fiona Hyslop made the announcement during a debate on the new National Qualifications being proposed by the Government and which it is expected will come on-stream in summer 2014.
Ms Hyslop said: "Curriculum for Excellence provides the opportunity to improve the educational experience of all of Scotland's young people and ensure that our young people are equipped with the skills required for the modern world. We need to ensure that we get implementation right. "That requires time: time for teachers and schools to engage in dialogue around implementing Curriculum for Excellence; time for individual class teachers to consider how their classroom practice needs to change and time for discussion within schools and across whole school communities around the new curriculum and how to maximise the educational experience and the individualised learning of Scotland's young people."
There are currently five existing in-service days plus other time for continued professional development which Directors of Education and Headteachers are expected to use to support the development of Curriculum for Excellence. Ms Hyslop is making provision for teachers across Scotland to have one extra in-service day this school year and for the next two school years - three extra in-service days in total and that that time should be explicitly allocated for Curriculum for Excellence preparation.